Try This Simple Switch For Blood Pressure and More

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The risk of you developing high blood pressure in your lifetime is about 90% according to the Framingham Heart Study, so whoever you are this simple blood pressure hack is quite important.

Ready for it?

Switch your rice for potatoes.

That’s all.

This is a huge game changer for many of our nutritional coaching clients because potatoes have way more potassium.

100 grams of cooked white rice has 35mg of potassium whereas 100grams of potatoes has 407mg of potassium.

That’s more than 10 times the potassium.

Potassium is important for blood pressure because it counteracts the effects of sodium.

In fact, a review article that won editor’s choice in the European Heart Journal in 2023 explains that adding more potassium may actually be more effective at reducing stroke risk than sodium reduction.

And that’s just the start.

We’ve made a whole video on why you should have potatoes instead of rice and you’ll find the original sources of information in the description of the video.

Click here to see the full video.

Please note if you have kidney issues or take potassium sparing meds please talk to your doctor first.

Full List of Benefits

If you want to read instead of watch:

This is one of the biggest health hacks that we tell almost all our nutritional coaching clients here at ThinkPharm Health.

Are these things that interest you?
Energy levels. Good blood pressure. Being more active. Managing your weight better.

Then you probably want to start switching your carbs like rice or pasta for potatoes.

Let’s start by talking about energy levels.

Rice has got 0 mg of vitamin C, whereas potatoes will have somewhere between 7–15 mg per 100 grams depending on how you cook them.

One small but randomised controlled study found that when participants had marginal vitamin C intake, the group taking vitamin C did 39.6% more physical activity on average than placebo.

We have reasons why we don’t recommend vitamin C supplements, but the same logic applies differently to food.

We think this is part of why many of our clients notice a difference in energy levels when they switch to potatoes.
More vitamin C.

Other reasons for improved energy may include magnesium.

Rice has about 12 mg of magnesium, whereas potatoes have about 21 mg.

Whenever we break down calories into energy, what we really mean is how our cells produce something called ATP.

Magnesium is necessary to actually let us use ATP, which means that within reason, more magnesium makes energy production more effective.

Magnesium also helps us produce serotonin, the neurotransmitter associated with calm, and melatonin, which helps with sleep.

Once again, better sleep is something many people report when switching to potatoes.

Potatoes also contain more B-vitamins.

For example, rice has about 0.09 mg of vitamin B6, whereas potatoes have about 0.2 mg.

But what is perhaps most important, and most impressive, is the potassium content of potatoes.

Rice contains about 35 mg of potassium per 100 grams, whereas potatoes contain about 407 mg per 100 grams.

That’s more than ten times the potassium for the same amount of food.

Why does this matter?

Potassium is important for energy because it helps the hormone insulin move glucose into cells.

It also helps the body store carbohydrates as glycogen in muscles and the liver, which can improve physical performance.

Consuming enough potassium alongside carbohydrates is surprisingly important.

Many people know that insulin is produced when we eat carbohydrates, but fewer people realise that insulin can lower potassium levels in the blood by driving potassium into cells.

Low potassium levels are not good for energy.

In extreme cases, such as prolonged fasting, insulin-induced potassium shifts can even be dangerous when potassium levels are already low.

The importance of potassium is often not really talked about, especially when it comes to blood pressure.

Did you know that your lifelong risk of developing high blood pressure at some point is around 90%, according to the Framingham Heart Study?

According to the American Heart Association, foods rich in potassium help control blood pressure by blunting the effects of sodium.

The more potassium you eat, the more sodium you excrete, and potassium also helps relax blood vessel walls, which lowers blood pressure.

A 2023 review article published in the European Heart Journal found that increasing potassium intake may be more effective at reducing stroke risk than reducing sodium intake.

We think switching to a potassium-rich carbohydrate source like potatoes, instead of rice or pasta, could go a long way toward helping prevent high blood pressure, which is the most common systemic disease in humans.

Finally, let’s talk about carbohydrate density.

100 grams of cooked white rice contains about 28.2 grams of carbohydrates.

100 grams of potatoes contains roughly 15.4–20.1 grams of carbohydrates.

This means that potatoes are more filling for the same carbohydrate intake, which can help with weight management.

To summarise, potatoes are nutritionally superior to grains like rice or pasta.

They contain more vitamin C, B-vitamins, magnesium, and potassium.

This may help improve energy levels, increase physical activity, promote calm, improve sleep quality, support healthy blood pressure, and make weight management easier.

If you enjoyed this content, you may want to subscribe for more like this.

If you’re in the UK, you can also explore the blood testing services we offer or the supplements we produce.

All sources and references are linked in the video description.

The information in this content is for general educational purposes only and is not medical advice.

Nutritional needs, medical conditions (especially kidney or heart disease), and medication interactions vary from person to person.

Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your diet, supplements, or lifestyle.

No product mentioned is intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease.

Full list of original sources/references

Vitamin C may boost physical activity: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25010554/

Why we don't recommend vitamin C as a supplement: https://thinkpharmhealth.com/pages/why-vitamins-c-e-should-not-be-supplemented

How to get more vitamin C: https://thinkpharmhealth.com/pages/how-to-get-the-vitamin-c-that-isnt-in-the-thinkpharm-formula

Magnesium helps with function of ATP: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4960558/

Magnesium helps produce serotonin and melatonin (minor correction - magnesium helps with serotonin transmission and activity, not always via serotonin production): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507250/

People with low potassium release less insulin, causing higher blood sugar levels: https://ucfhealth.com/our-services/endocrinology/the-relationship-between-potassium-and-diabetes/

Hypokalemia (low potassium) from refeeding syndrome can be fatal: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK564513/

Lifelong risk of developing high blood pressure is around 90%: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11866648/

American Heart Association's perspective on potassium and blood pressure: https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/sodium/potassium

European Heart Journal article on the value of potassium in the diet for blood pressure: https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article/44/47/4925/7344354